Kate Winslet has said that she’s ‘thrilled’ to be taking on a new role closer to Royal Family – after saying she’d be ‘disgusted’ if she had come from royalty.

The Oscar award-winning actress, 49, originally from Reading, who once said her ‘socialist’ parents ‘frowned upon the wealthy’, was recently announced as the latest ambassador for The King’s Foundation. 

The educational charity, established in 1990 by King Charles, 76, said it was ‘excited’ to welcome The Holiday star onboard its team, along with a video of Winslet.

She said: ‘I am so thrilled to become an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, particularly as the charity celebrates its 35th anniversary this year.

‘The King’s Foundation does such fantastic work to prioritise and protect nature and our wonderful planet, in particular, championing field to fork farming as well as young people outdoors and learning about our beautiful countryside and how we can all play a part in protecting its future.

‘All things that are deeply important to me and to so many of us and it’s been fascinating learning about what the Foundation does over these past few months, and I am really looking forward to collaborating with the other ambassadors so we can discuss ways in which we can collectively make a positive difference.’

The charity also posted about Winslet on their website and included a quote of her saying how one of her ‘passions’ is ‘exploring ways that we can protect and promote the natural world.’ She added: ‘[It’s] something I have in common with His Majesty!’

However, in a 2019 interview with Radio Times, Winslet revealed that she would have been ‘upset and disgusted’ if she had come from ‘wealth or royalty’.

Kate Winslet has accepted a new position as part of the King’s Trust – after claiming that she would be ‘upset and disgusted’ if she had come from ‘wealth or royalty’ (pictured with King Charles during a reception at St James’s Palace in London)

She added: ‘There was never any money in our family, but I always felt very fortunate because I came from a lovely, wonderful, loving family.

‘My roots are socialist, working class and, in a funny way, my parents frowned upon the wealthy.’

It seems her views on royalty might have since changed because, in addition to accepting the new position, the actress joined King Charles at the charity’s awards ceremony in St James’s Palace a fortnight ago, where she told him: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be all in – I’ve got your back.’ 

Earlier this month, the Hollywood star was snapped as she warmly shook the King‘s hand during a reception for the foundation at St James’s Palace in London.

The annual ceremony, which celebrated the 35th Anniversary of The King’s Foundation, was an opportunity to celebrate alumni, students, and ambassadors of the monarch’s charity.

The event, attended by 200 guests, celebrated the exemplary work of students, teachers, alumni and partners who have contributed to the Foundation’s work across a range of sectors including sustainability, traditional heritage skills and environmental education.

Winslet joined other famous guests including Meryl Streep, Stanley Tucci, chef Raymond Blanc and Alan Titchmarsh. 

Former footballer David Beckham, who became an ambassador for the King’s Foundation in 2024, was also present and appeared to be in his element as he put on an animated display with American actress Meryl.

In a 2019 Radio Times interview, Winslet (pictured at the Golden Globe Awards in January) revealed that she would have been ‘upset and disgusted ‘ if she had come from ‘wealth or royalty’

The Holiday actress warmly chatted with King Charles during an event for the charity earlier this month

The educational charity said it was ‘excited’ to welcome Winslet onboard its team in a post shared online

Pictured from L to R: Penny Lancaster, David Beckham, King Charles, Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet

Meanwhile, Charles proved to be the perfect host and had the famous faces in fits of giggles.

The foundation revealed that, to date, it has trained more than 115,000 students in traditional crafts and environmental education over its 35-year tenure, welcomed more than 2.5million visitors to its UK destinations, and positively affected more than 500,000 lives through sustainable urban planning.

King’s Foundation ambassador Penny Lancaster praised the monarch for his vision for creating the awards and highlighting the needs of the planet throughout his adult life.

‘We all know that the King has been the forefront and sort of marching us all along for more than 50 years, he’s been an absolute pioneer and visionary in that sense,’ she said.

‘These awards and indeed the foundation is so important because of the role they have in not only protecting these traditional crafts and the environment but also giving the winners such an incredible platform to go and achieve great things.

‘The King may have been accused of hugging trees and people thinking he was mad when he started talking about the environment all that time ago, but he was at the forefront then and now has been proved right with everything he said and now we’re all just trying to play catch up.

‘I really recognise the beauty in the way he is trying to get us on board with his knowledge and if we can pass that on to the younger generation, and save some of the traditional skills like we’ve seen with these winners today, we can all be a part of making a difference.

‘I think the mistake is when we say, well, there’s such a huge job ahead of us that we could give up, but where’s the hope about and confidence that we can pull together to not make it such a mammoth task, there is real hope for the future.’